So he doesn’t feel as if he has to worry about the dreaded runnerup curse, the one that saw Denny Hamlin finish ninth in the standings after his 2010 runnerup finish and Carl Edwards finish 15th last year after his 2011 second-place run.

Both of those drivers held the points lead entering the final race of the Chase For The Sprint Cup.

For Bowyer, it was different. He had no shot at the title in the final race. In fact, after a runnerup finish in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he gave team owner Michael Waltrip a quizzical look when told that he finished second in the standings.

“I was like. ‘I saw that. Yeah, great point there,’” Bowyer said in an incredulous tone. “And he said, ‘No in the points.’”

Bowyer was third in the standings and trailed leader Jimmie Johnson by 36 points and Brad Keselowski by 29 with two races remaining in the Chase. When Johnson crashed at Phoenix International Race, it suddenly seemed that Bowyer was in the title hunt, but then Jeff Gordon wrecked him late in the race and his championship hopes were all but over.

Instead of being only a few points behind Keselowski going into the season finale, Bowyer slipped to fourth in the standings and was 52 points back after the Gordon wreck.

So Bowyer, who wound up 39 points behind Keselowski in the final standings, doesn’t feel as if his Michael Waltrip Racing team was disappointed after a season when many didn’t even think Bowyer would make the Chase.

“Everybody was excited last year about the opportunity ahead of them (and) the unknowns,” Bowyer said. “Now that excitement is full of confidence.

“The guys have some swagger to them now and carry themselves in a little bit different manner than they did last year. That’s a good thing. It can also be dangerous. I’ve been in this sport long enough to know coming off a good season, you (can) struggle and I’m just focused on making sure that doesn’t happen.”

He will do that in two ways — making sure his No. 15 team sets reasonable goals and also works to develop the new Sprint Cup car.

The reasonable goal isn’t necessarily to win the title.

“In my opinion, it’s a successful year if you make that Chase and you’re part of that group,” Bowyer said. “Anything can happen in them 10 races. … (We’re) setting goals appropriately and, for me, that’s setting out to win races and make that Chase again and have a shot at the championship.”

Bowyer believes the new 2013 Gen-6 car will help his team focus. The cars have new bodies with new rear suspension and weight distribution rules that will change how the cars drive.

The organization that can develop the car the quickest will have the best chance of winning, especially early in the season.

“We had a great season last year,” Bowyer said. “Last year was last year. There’s a whole new animal to overcome this year. It’s a whole new racecar. We’ve done our homework. We’ve put our time in and hope to reap the benefits.”

If he does reap the benefits, Bowyer won’t feel his team overachieved once again.

In fact, he wouldn’t use that word to describe last season at MWR, which had only two victories and no Chase appearances in the five previous seasons. Then Bowyer won three races last year and he and Martin Truex Jr. both made the Chase.

“I don’t think we overachieved, because I think when you say overachieved it means you did more than you’re capable of,” Bowyer said. “I just think we were beyond expectations and what people expected of us. I’m very proud of what we accomplished last year.

“I’ve looked forward to this year and what we have in front of us and the opportunities ahead with this new car and continue to build on what we had last year.”

And if he doesn’t? What if he has the typical runnerup fall?

“It’s either going to happen or it’s not,” Bowyer said. “I guess if it does happen, what are you going to do about it? You’re going to work hard to try to correct it.”